Itanagar, Nov 10: The Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) and the Itanagar Press Club (IPC) today condemned the Tamil Nadu Assembly's decision against the senior journalists of 'The Hindu' calling it a "insult" to free-thinking Indians. In a joint letter to the president of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) today, it said the media had always been a target of threat and intimidation from many quarters. In the northeast, working journalists and their offices are exposed to great risk and threat to life in the discharge of their professional duty. Nevertheless, the media in India stood as a symbol of freedom of expression and speech and freedom from fear. In this instance, the APUWJ and IPC extended its support to organisations of journalists in Tamil Nadu and fraternal organizations across the country who were protesting the Tamil Nadu Assembly decision.

Atrocities and attacks on the media were tantamount to an attack not only on journalists but to the democratic polity of the country, it said adding the arbitrary action of the Tamil Nadu Assembly was an insult to free-thinking people across the nation.

The attack on the press is a cause for concern for all citizens of a country which believes in constitutional guarantees, secularism and democratic principles. Bureau Report